Social signals: from theory to applications

The Special Issue Editorial introduces the research milieu in which Social Signal Processing originates, by merging computer scientists and social scientists and giving rise to this field in parallel with Human-Computer Interaction, Affective Computing, and Embodied Conversational Agents, all similarly characterized by high interdisciplinarity, stress on multimodality of communication, and the continuous loop from theory to simulation and application. Some frameworks of the cognitive and social processes underlying social signals are identified as reference points (Theory of Mind and Intersubjectivity, mirror neurons, and the ontogenesis and phylogenesis of communication), while three dichotomies (automatic vs. controlled, individualistic vs. intersubjective, and meaning vs. influence) are singled out as leads to navigate within the theoretical and applicative studies presented in the Special Issue.     

Some applications of graph theory to clustering

This paper attempts to review and expand upon the relationship between graph theory and the clustering of a set of objects. Several graphtheoretic criteria are proposed for use within a general clustering paradigm as a means of developing procedures in between the extremes of complete-link and single-link hierarchical partitioning; these same ideas are then extended to include the more general problem of constructing subsets of objects with overlap. Finally, a number of related topics are surveyed within the general context of reinterpreting and justifying methods of clustering either through standard concepts in graph theory or their simple extensions.     

Behavioral momentum theory: equations and applications

Behavioral momentum theory provides a quantitative account of how reinforcers experienced within a discriminative stimulus context govern the persistence of behavior that occurs in that context. The theory suggests that all reinforcers obtained in the presence of a discriminative stimulus increase resistance to change, regardless of whether those reinforcers are contingent on the target behavior, are noncontingent, or are even contingent on an alternative behavior. In this paper, we describe the equations that constitute the theory and address their application to issues of particular importance in applied settings. The theory provides a framework within which to consider the effects of interventions such as extinction, noncontingent reinforcement, differential reinforcement of alternative behavior, and other phenomena (e.g., resurgence). Finally, the theory predicts some counterintuitive and potentially counterproductive effects of alternative reinforcement, and can serve as an integrative guide for intervention when its terms are identified with the relevant conditions of applied settings.     

Some applications of attribute prediction theory to psychophysics

The following development is a coordination of certain aspects of mental test methods and psychophysics. The biserial and triserial prediction equations of the Katzell-Cureton theory are utilized to reformulate the determination of absolute and differential limens from data produced by the constant method.     

Social theory without wholes

Language is the tradition of nations; each generation describes what it sees, but it uses words transmitted from the past. When a great entity like the British Constitution has continued in connected outward sameness, but hidden inner change, for many ages, every generation inherits a series of inapt words — of maxims once true, but of which the truth is ceasing or has ceased. As a man’s family go on muttering in his maturity incorrect phrases derived from a just observation of his early youth, so, in the full activity of an historical constitution, its subjects repeat phrases true in the time of their fathers, and inculcated by those fathers, but now true no longer.     

Social theory without wholes

Language is the tradition of nations; each generation describes what it sees, but it uses words transmitted from the past. When a great entity like the British Constitution has continued in connected outward sameness, but hidden inner change, for many ages, every generation inherits a series of inapt words — of maxims once true, but of which the truth is ceasing or has ceased. As a man’s family go on muttering in his maturity incorrect phrases derived from a just observation of his early youth, so, in the full activity of an historical constitution, its subjects repeat phrases true in the time of their fathers, and inculcated by those fathers, but now true no longer.     

社会动机理论视角下自闭症谱系障碍者的社交缺陷

社交缺陷是自闭症谱系障碍的核心症状。以往研究更多从社会认知的角度指出该症状是心理理论损伤所致, 但自闭症谱系障碍个体在获得心理理论之前已表现出社会动机不足的特质, 且部分能通过心理理论测试的个体依旧表现出社会动机不足的特点。社会动机理论指出社会动机是促进人类进化、激发和维持个体社会性活动的重要内部动力, 自闭症谱系障碍者的社交缺陷是由于社会动机不足所致。该理论从行为表现、神经科学和生物学三个方面对自闭症谱系障碍者的社交缺陷进行解释。未来应进一步完善自闭症谱系障碍个体社会动机的神经机制研究, 明确社会动机理论在自闭症谱系障碍群体中的适用范围, 探究社会动机理论在评估诊断和临床康复中的应用价值。     

Catastrophe theory applications in clinical psychology: A review

Catastrophe theory is a new mathematical science that permits some insight into the way in which sudden changes or discontinuities of behavior may occur even though the underlying causative forces are essentially continuous. This article aims to present a nonmathematician’s view of catastrophe applications in clinical psychology. Areas covered include anorexia nervosa, binge eating and drinking, affective disorders, schizophrenia, aggressiveness, and prison disturbances. Where appropriate, therapeutic implications and possible physiological correlates are offered. Examples are given of catastrophe theory’s ability to explain previously inexplicable findings. Attention is drawn to its refutability and predictive value, and hence its scientific respectability.     

Social signals: a framework in terms of goals and beliefs

The paper defines the notion of social signal, in terms of a cognitive model of mind and social interaction, as a communicative or informative signal or a cue that directly or indirectly provides information about “social facts”: social interactions, social emotions, social attitudes, evaluations and stances, social relations, and social identities. This notion is compared with other connected notions in Semiotics, Ethology, and Psychology, several types of informative and communicative signals and cues are exemplified, and their process of production and interpretation is overviewed, while considering the role of context and previous knowledge in it. The implications of this model are outlined for the construction of systems for the analysis of social signals and their simulation in Virtual Agents.     

Social signals: a framework in terms of goals and beliefs

The paper defines the notion of social signal, in terms of a cognitive model of mind and social interaction, as a communicative or informative signal or a cue that directly or indirectly provides information about "social facts": social interactions, social emotions, social attitudes, evaluations and stances, social relations, and social identities. This notion is compared with other connected notions in Semiotics, Ethology, and Psychology, several types of informative and communicative signals and cues are exemplified, and their process of production and interpretation is overviewed, while considering the role of context and previous knowledge in it. The implications of this model are outlined for the construction of systems for the analysis of social signals and their simulation in Virtual Agents.     

Social aspects of career choice from the perspective of habitus theory

The concept of habitus designates a cognitive structure that is socially embedded and can give valuable insight into the social influences on career choice. A study investigating the relationship of habitus to career choice is presented in a sample of Icelandic youth aged 19–22 (N = 476). Measures of habitus were developed on the basis of reported cultural and leisure activities. The analysis of leisure and cultural items progressed in two steps: factor analysis and cluster analysis. The clusters constitute the four different habitus groups: Pop and fashion, Sports and rock, Music, and Literature. Correspondence factor analysis showed that the habitus groups (clusters) were related to other social variables, such as gender and class; validating habitus theory. Additionally, habitus measures were strongly linked to career variables, such as occupational perception and preferred future occupation. The results support previous research in showing that habitus theory is relevant to career counseling theory and can be a basis of understanding the relationship between social structure and career choice.     

Social aspects of career choice from the perspective of habitus theory

The concept of habitus designates a cognitive structure that is socially embedded and can give valuable insight into the social influences on career choice. A study investigating the relationship of habitus to career choice is presented in a sample of Icelandic youth aged 19–22 (N = 476). Measures of habitus were developed on the basis of reported cultural and leisure activities. The analysis of leisure and cultural items progressed in two steps: factor analysis and cluster analysis. The clusters constitute the four different habitus groups: Pop and fashion, Sports and rock, Music, and Literature. Correspondence factor analysis showed that the habitus groups (clusters) were related to other social variables, such as gender and class; validating habitus theory. Additionally, habitus measures were strongly linked to career variables, such as occupational perception and preferred future occupation. The results support previous research in showing that habitus theory is relevant to career counseling theory and can be a basis of understanding the relationship between social structure and career choice.     

Signal detection theory with finite mixture distributions: theoretical developments with applications to recognition memory

An extension of signal detection theory (SDT) that incorporates mixtures of the underlying distributions is presented. The mixtures can be motivated by the idea that a presentation of a signal shifts the location of an underlying distribution only if the observer is attending to the signal; otherwise, the distribution is not shifted or is only partially shifted. Thus, trials with a signal presentation consist of a mixture of 2 (or more) latent classes of trials. Mixture SDT provides a general theoretical framework that offers a new perspective on a number of findings. For example, mixture SDT offers an alternative to the unequal variance signal detection model; it can also account for nonlinear normal receiver operating characteristic curves, as found in recent research.     

Integrative aspects of problem theory: a review of applications

It is argued that people work on 6 interrelated general problems, called key problems, which are necessarily simply conceived and therefore open to a priori identification. Key problems demand separate attention, and, with children below 9 years of age and again between 10 and 17 years of age, and with adults in long-term groups, they receive attention 1 by 1, as focal problems, with intervening transitional phases, in a fixed sequence. Isolated societies stress 1 focal problem, and families and individuals tend to do the same. Humor and elated play worsen the problem. Brain lateralization helps in separating work on the 1st key problem from work on other problems, and failure to accomplish this contributes to mental disorder. The theory can be fitted to aspects of brain activity (as shown in the electroencephalograph), such as the change with age in theta coherence growth rate.     

Social cognitive theory of self-regulation

In social cognitive theory human behavior is extensively motivated and regulated by the ongoing exercise of self-influence. The major self-regulative mechanism operates through three principal subfunctions. These include self-monitoring of one's behavior, its determinants, and its effects; judgment of one's behavior in relation to personal standards and environmental circumstances; and affective self-reaction. Self-regulation also encompasses the self-efficacy mechanism, which plays a central role in the exercise of personal agency by its strong impact on thought, affect, motivation, and action. The same self-regulative system is involved in moral conduct although compared to the achievement domain, in the moral domain the evaluative standards are more stable, the judgmental factors more varied and complex, and the affective self-reactions more intense. In the interactionist perspective of social cognitive theory, social factors affect the operation of the self-regulative system.